News from Ireland - news from around the 32 counties

Vulnerable young adults wept in disbelief last week when they were told that the shutters will soon come down on their beloved training center.

The Bridge Association in Enkalon Industrial Estate has been providing a vital lifeline for people with special needs - and respite for their families - for almost a quarter of a century, but troubled financial waters now threaten to bring it all crashing down.

The Northern Trust has been accused of bringing the crisis to a head when without fanfare it slashed funding to the unit, which serves more than 20 families, by around $13,000 a month.
(Source: Antrim Guardian)
Armagh

One of Northern Ireland's largest pig farmers has been fined £187,000 in the region's first successful prosecution for corporate manslaughter.

Robert Wilson, 45, was working at a meal mixing plant on the farm in Co Armagh when he was killed after a metal bin fell off a forklift truck and crushed him.

The bin had not been attached to the forklift properly.
(Source: Evening Herald)
Carlow

It has been confirmed that work on the Penneys site in the center of Carlow town will not start this year.
Despite promises that work on the highly-anticipated project would begin in the first quarter of 2012, it has now emerged that the site will not be developed until 2013.

It is understood that developer Eamon Duignan’s assets are under the control of the National Assets Management Agency.

When contacted, however, Mr Duignan would not be drawn on the matter but did confirm that work would begin on the Penneys site in 2013.

“The planning delays had a bigger impact than envisaged,” he told The Nationalist.
(Source: The Carlow Nationalist)
Cavan

As a national Garda campaign is rolled out this weekend with a view to supporting safer communities, the Cavan District Superintendent warned the public to be wary of con artists, purporting to sell laptops and other items. According to Supt Jimmy Coen, people in the Cavan area have been conned out of large sums of cash and are left holding packages of milk cartons or bags of flour.

In this con people are approached in public areas, such as business forecourts and pressurised into purchasing a wide variety of items. Typically items include jewellery, cigarettes, mobile phones and laptops.
(Source: The Anglo Celt)
Clare

After eight years, Shannon Airport will no longer be under the control of the Dublin Airport Authority as it is to be combined with Shannon Development to form a new entity.

Government Ministers Leo Varadkar and Richard Bruton announced the creation of the new entity last Wednesday, which will have a commercial mandate and be publicly owned. Shannon Development will lose some of its key functions under the move.

The new entity will have no net debt (Shannon Airport had been carrying a debt of approximately €100 million) but it will lose Aer Rianta International, which was developed in Shannon and is hugely lucrative.

The Minister’s statement said the entity, “will have a clear mandate, working closely with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland to develop the potential of the aviation sector and will explore other opportunities with those agencies for further prospective investments in the region”.
(Source: The Clare Champion)

Cork

A man is being treated in hospital after being stabbed a number of times, gardai said.

The attack happened at Parkview, Wellington Road in Cork city.

The 35-year-old victim received a number of wounds during the incident.

Paramedics called to the scene rushed the man to Cork University Hospital where he is undergoing medical treatment.

It is understood his injuries are not life-threatening.
Source: (Evening Herald)
Derry

A judge has refused to return four people for trial accused of managing an illegal demonstration at Derry City Cemetery.

Derry Magistrates Court heard that preliminary enquiry papers were not ready and had not been served on the defendants.

It was also revealed that Price is unfit to travel to court or to appear via videolink.
(Source: Derry Journal)

Donegal

A Crolly man said he owes his life to a quick-thinking passer-by and the Gaoth Dobhair fire service.

John Barrow did not know anything was wrong, until he was wakened early last Friday by Gerry Gallagher of the Gaoth Dobhair fire service.

“Someone was hammering on my window, saying to get up and get out,” John recalled. His house at Killindaragh, Crolly, on the N56, was filled with smoke; an approaching bog fire was within a few feet of his house. It was about 6.40 am.

“It was a close call,” John said.

A Dutch man who is a frequent visitor to Donegal and his father were travelling to catch a flight at Donegal Airport at Carrickfinn on Friday morning, when they saw the fire behind John’s house and raised the alarm. The man had also tried unsuccessfully to raise any occupants in the house.

(Source: Donegal Democrat)

Down

A Chinese woman allegedly trafficked into NI for sexual exploitation may have been moved between 10 countries, the High Court has heard.

She claimed to have been kidnapped in Turkey after going there in search of work, and then taken on to Spain.

A judge was told she could have been in other countries before arriving in Belfast on a flight from Barcelona.

Details emerged as bail was refused to a man charged with trafficking her into the UK.

Bin Wang, 26, with an address at Drogheda in the Irish Republic, denies the allegation and claims to have been unwittingly used by others.

The court was told that the alleged victim was stopped at Belfast International Airport on 20 April because she was using a false passport.

A prosecution lawyer said she told immigration staff that she was being trafficked and was to meet a man.

She was taken to an emergency housing center but left a day later.

A social worker and an owner of the center found her by the side of a road near Antrim.

They refused to let the woman go with a Chinese man who pulled up in a car, claiming she was a friend of his.
(Source: BBC News)
Dublin

The mother who abandoned her newborn baby in a Dublin guesthouse has now vowed to raise the child in Ireland.

The German woman told gardai (police) she wants to keep the child, having met him three times.

She had left baby Luke lying on a bed at the Glen Guesthouse on Lower Gardiner Street before she got a taxi to the airport and flew to Germany.

The child was taken into care after being discovered by staff at the guesthouse.

The woman, a student in her 20s at UCD, was joined on her visits to her son by her parents who have now returned home to Frankfurt.

It is understood she now hopes to complete her studies and ask a family court if she can be reunited with her child, who is only a few weeks old.
(Source: The Evening Herald)
Fermanagh

Access to a slipway, moorings and car park used by fishermen near Belleek has been closed by a farmer.

The facility near Castle Caldwell, Lower Lough Erne, was publicly funded but the lease for the land has expired.

Fishermen only became aware of the situation when hay bales blocked the road leading to the site.

A landowner has reported concerns to the Department of Cultural Arts and Leisure (DCAL) about the behavior of some people using the facility.

It is understood some fishermen have blocked access to his land by parking their cars in the narrow lane leading to the car park.

On one occasion a fisherman is said to have beeped his car horn as the farmer was herding cattle between his fields, startling the animals.

Another landowner said he was concerned about public liability insurance and that he would be held responsible if there was an accident.
(Source: BBC News)

Galway

A leading Tuam businessman is to remove a trailer advertising his electrical business from his own property on the Milltown Road following an action taken by Galway Co Council.

Judge Geoffrey Browne asked “when is he going to move it?” after hearing a detailed and protracted defense centered on the enforcement process engaged in by Galway Co Council, dating back three years.

“He had nowhere to put it,” pleaded defense solicitor Sean Acton, adding “what can he do, scrap it?” The Judge gave until July 24 for the offending trailer to be removed from the site.
(Source: Tuam Herald)

Kerry

Police in Australia are investigating the circumstances of the death of a young Irish woman who was found dead in an apartment.

Catriona Norveil (22) had been living in Sydney since February, when she emigrated to Australia in search of work.

Her heartbroken mother Chris learned the news last Sunday night when Dingle gardai (police) called to the family home near Ventry, Co Kerry, after being contacted by police in Sydney.

The family are now awaiting the return of Catriona's remains and are being offered assistance by the Irish Embassy in Australia.

Police are still probing the cause of her death.
(Source: Irish Independent)

Kildare

A plan to turn a former Newbridge pub into a gaming facility has been rejected by council planners, to the relief of Mayor of Kildare and Newbridge councillor Micheal Nolan who says he believes gambling outlets “cause a great deal of suffering”.

Cllr Nolan had objected to the plan by developers, Coalquay Leisure Ltd (a Cork-based company) to transform the former Arch Bar on Main Street - used in more recent years as a betting office - into an internet cafe and gaming machine outlet.
(Source: The Kildare Nationalist)

Kilkenny

A full visitors ban was put in place at Waterford Regional Hospital on Thursday.

In the interests of patient care and as a precaution, a full ban on visiting was put in place at Waterford Regional Hospital in a bid to curb suspected cases of the Norovirus (vomiting bug). The hospital is taking no chances.
(Source: Kilkenny People)

Laois

In an effort to curb the dramatic increase in burglaries across the county in recent times, a garda (police) initiative has been launched encouraging more communities to set up Neighbourhood Watch schemes.

Burglaries have gone up by almost a third across Laois and Offaly between 2010 and 2011, from 736 to 974. While the recession is undoubtedly playing its part, Garda Sergeant Padraig Farrelly, crime prevention officer for Laois/Offaly, believes that the huge increase in the number of commuters in the region has also contributed.

“More people are commuting now and not getting involved in their community,” he said. “Years ago, everyone knew everyone else in their area, but now people are moving much move.”
(Source: Leinster Express)

Leitrim

Sinn Féin leader, Gerry Adams TD, was in Carrick-on-Shannon last Thursday to hear what people think of rural life.

Over the past couple of months, Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams TD, Martin Ferris TD and Senator Trevor Clochartaigh have been travelling around the country talking to people about life in the future in rural Ireland.
(Source: Leitrim Observer)

Limerick

A Corbally woman who was caught selling illegal cigarettes to undercover customs officers in the casual trading area outside the Milk Market faces fines of up to $16,000 or a maximum of five years in prison, Limerick Circuit Court has heard.

Carol Collopy, (51) of Danesfort, Corbally, has admitted possession of nearly 37,000 cigarettes worth €16,634, which resulted in the loss of €10,656 to the Exchequer. Ms Collopy broke down in court last week and pleaded to Judge Carroll Moran to deal with her case sooner, after he adjourned sentencing to May 22.

“If I deal with it this afternoon you’re going to prison for two years Mrs Collopy. I don’t want to send you to prison, that’s why I need to think about it and do what’s right,” said Judge Moran.
(Source: Limerick Leader)

Longford

The 90 jobs in Flancare Longford are safe for now after a significant investment in a newly-formed company which has acquired the trade and certain assets of Flancare Distribution Limited.

Total Produce, one of Europe’s largest fresh produce providers, announced last Friday it had become a 50 per cent shareholder in a new company, which takes over Flancare’s business from the provisional liquidator, Mr Declan McDonald of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In a statement, Total Produce said they expected “this transaction will secure employment for 200 people as well as ensuring the continued provision of high levels of service to customers.”
(Source: Longford Leader)

Louth

An Irish woman is to be sentenced next month in New Zealand after being found guilty of offences relating to a $1.4m banking fraud.

It is understood that Susan Bourton, who is originally from Dundalk, left Ireland 20 years ago with her parents and siblings but returned in the late 2000s and set up a number of businesses in the Dundalk area.

However, the 36-year-old from Barleyfield, Kilcurry, was arrested by the New Zealand authorities when she returned to be with her father Gerard who died from cancer in July 2010. She was charged with a number of fraud offences.

She pleaded guilty last November to 25 charges and after months of deliberation, the judge in the New Zealand case found her guilty of the remaining 56 counts of fraud.
(Source: Dundalk Democrat)

Mayo

A man was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a pensioner in Co Mayo last weekend.

The 71-year-old victim was shot at around 2.15pm at Wallpark, Glencorrib.

He was taken to Galway Regional Hospital where he later died.

Gardai (police) have arrested a man in his early 30s, who is being held at Claremorris Garda Station.
(Source: Evening Herald)

Meath

The Ashbourne father who last week made a desperate plea for the life-saving cancer drug Ipilimumab (Ipy) had his wish granted when Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny announced last Thursday that the drug would be made available to cancer patients here.

Martin McMahon (44), from St John's Wood in the town, is suffering from advanced malignant melanoma and believes the revolutionary new drug is his only hope to save his life. However, the drug has not been available here as it had not been licensed though it is available in the United States.

He made an emotional appeal last week for the drug to be made available here and his family had been launching a fundraising campaign to finance his treatment with Ipy.
(Source: The Meath Chronicle)
Monaghan

This year's Flat Lake arts festival has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond the control of organizers, it has emerged.

The cancellation of the popular arts festival based in Scotshouse, County Monaghan, scheduled for the June bank holiday was announced on the website.

This year's festival headliners were expected to include film director Neil Jordan (the Crying Game) and musicians Glen Hansard (The Frames) and Donal Lunny (ex-Planxty).
(Source: Irish Times)

Offaly

Crime fell by 26% in the first four months of this year in the Tullamore Garda District.

Figures presented by Tullamore Inspector Kieran Keys to a meeting of the Joint Policing Committee last week showed that overall crime in the area had seen a notable drop since the start of the year.

Garda records show a dramatic drop of 22% in the number of assaults while public order offences decreased even further. They were down by 29% to the end of April this year. Damage to property fell by 13% and there was a drop in burglaries of 6%.

However it was not all positive as there was a rise in robberies by a worrying 33%.
(Source: Offaly Express)

Roscommon

The annual conference of the Psychiatric Nurses Association has been told that retirements have resulted in horrendous problems in maintaining the country's mental health services.

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, PNA General Secretary Des Kavanagh said that more than a quarter of the nursing workforce has been lost in the last few years.

He said that this is affecting specialist services which in some cases have disappeared completely.

"In Roscommon, family therapy is totally gone, addiction services are halved, cognitive behavioral therapy, I think, has reduced by one quarter, and that's just one County alone," Mr Kavanagh said.
(Source: The Roscommon Champion)

Sligo

Video footage of what appears to be an over water tornado has been recorded off the Co Sligo coast.

Images of the apparent tornado were captured by Graeme Salter at Rosses Point at about 3.50pm last Monday afternoon.

The weather phenomena, also known as a seaspout, occurs over a body of water and is connected to a cumuliform cloud formation.

Seaspouts are often associated with active weather fronts and can appear during periods of thunder, lightning or strong winds.
(Source: RTE News)

Tipperary

Former President of Ireland Mary McAleese and her husband Senator Martin McAleese are to be jointly honoured as the 2011 recipients of the Tipperary International Peace Award, at a red carpet ceremony in Ballykisteen Hotel, on Thursday July 5th.
(Source: Tipperary Star)
Tyrone

Relatives of the Omagh bomb victims are to hold talks with Northern Ireland Secretary of State Owen Paterson on a new report they commissioned into the atrocity.

They believe they have uncovered fresh evidence on the security force response to the Real IRA bomb plot which killed 29 people in the Co Tyrone town more than a decade ago.

Representatives of some of those who lost loved ones in the bombing will meet Mr Paterson in Belfast to discuss the findings. Campaigners have previously demanded a cross-border inquiry into whether the authorities in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland could have done more to prevent the bombing.
(Source: Belfast Telegraph)
Waterford

An unlicensed landfill believed to contain up to 40,000 tons of rubble, paint tins, cement, timber and plasterboard, has been discovered on the outskirts of the city and is currently under investigation by the Council. Just yards from T&C Motors and Riverwalk student accommodation on the Inner Ring Road an eight-foot high fence and metal gate shields the now largely overgrown dump from the public gaze.
(Source: Waterford News & Star)

Westmeath

The international trade hub planned for Athlone is "in the middle of nowhere" and will be blown "out of the water" by a competing development in Liverpool, according to a backer of the Liverpool project.

In a bullish interview which was published by the Liverpool Echo last week, Lindsey Ashworth indicated that he was not concerned about the prospect of competing with Athlone for business from China. Mr Ashworth is a representative of The Peel Group which was granted permission last September for an international trade centre in Wirral.

He claimed this project "will be first and will be better" than the one in Athlone.
(Source: Westmeath Independent)
Wexford

A 20-year-old who went on a crime spree around the Castletown area last month, has been told to stay out of Co. Wexford until his case is next before the court.

Colin Larkin, with an address given as Springfield, Coolraney, Castletown, but who is not from the area, faced 19 separate charges of burglary and criminal damage at properties in the Castletown area.

Sergeant Victor Isdell told Judge William Early that the defendant entered a house at Clonranny, on February 29, by smashing a rear window, and stole two televisions, a power drill, and a satellite box. The total value of goods stolen was €1,090, and only the power drill was recovered. The rooms in the house were rifled through, and he switched the electricity off at the mains.
(Source: The Irish Times)
Wicklow

There were 734 traffic collisions involving material damage on Wicklow roads during 2009 representing an overall reduction in the number and expense of motor insurance claims cost.

New figures released by the Central Bank show that in 2009 the average cost, measured on a per claim basis, decreased by 25 per cent, to €4,218, for comprehensive cover and by 32 per cent, to €5,391, for third party fire and theft cover between 2002 and 2009.

According to motor insurance experts www.getcover.ie infrastructure improvements and more cautious road users has resulted in a reduction in the level of accidents taking place.
(Source: The Wicklow People)